UPDATE 2019-05-31: Total Phase has released the new Advanced Cable Tester v2, a successor to the original product mentioned below.  The original version is no longer supported. Click here to learn more about the Advanced Cable Tester v2.

The USB-IF Compliance Workshop in Taipei  November 7-12 marked the end of my 4-week trip in Asia – across 4 countries and 5 cities. Starting from the USB Developer Days in Hong Kong, the Total Phase team traveled to Seoul, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and finally Taipei to meet with customers who were interested in learning more about how our embedded solutions could help with their projects.

The most popular product during the trip was undoubtedly our Advanced Cable Tester, which can test a USB  Type-C cable’s E-marker, continuity, DC resistance, and signal integrity in under 20 seconds.

We visited several cable factories in China, and the cable manufacturers all expressed a need to better understand Type-C technology and talked about the challenges they face when trying to produce high quality Type-C cables. We saw, from the factory visits, that the current solutions for testing Type-C cables are either too costly or insufficient in ensuring that every cable passes safety and performance tests.

Total Phase’s  Advanced Cable Tester provides an efficient way of cable testing that’s comprehensive and cost-effective, so that manufacturers are comfortable with testing every cable they produce. Using the Advanced Cable Tester’s  “Batch Mode”, users can automatically detect and perform tests without a computer present, and operators can refer to the result-indicator lights on the device to determine whether or not a cable has passed or failed a test. Another feature that greatly interested customers is the user-friendly API. The API can be used for importing test results into the customers’ own database, which is a great tool for quality control analysis.

The Advanced Cable Tester is also helpful for development engineers to ensure the quality of the cables they work with. At the USB-IF Compliance Workshop in Taipei, several customers tested the cables they brought with their device with our Advanced Cable Tester. They were able to immediately see the E-marker values, continuity, resistance, and signal integrity of the cables they were using. Many customers were impressed by the eye diagrams we generate, and found an easy way to access information about the cables they work with.

The 4-week trip in Asia was a great learning experience for me. I learned so much about the exciting and increasing uses of USB Type-C. I was once an oblivious consumer who couldn’t tell the difference between a good and bad cable, and now I understand and appreciate the intricate technology behind USB cables.

The more consumer electronic products implement Type-C, the more important it is to educate consumers about the safety and performance of these cables. Aside from the productive weekdays, my weekends were also filled with exciting activities – such as a day trip to Macau and viewing Shanghai city from 260 meters above ground